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10 Families Who Escaped Cults

The McGowan Family

Actress Rose McGowan was born in the idyllic Italian countryside—however, it didn’t stay that way. Her parents were members of the Children of God sect, now infamous for a “free love” philosophy that condoned adult-child sexual relationships. When she was 9 years old, her father feared Rose might be abused, and the family fled to the United States. "My dad was strong enough to realize that this hippie love had gone south,” she recalled to People in 2011.